Nora - yikes and yay, in that order! Can't wait to check that place out, they sound pretty awesome. Safe travels tomorrow! Looking forward to hanging with your boys this weekend.

Thanks, sj! And that sounds super cute.

Casserole made, dishes washed, pans cleaned, trash and recycling taken out, dog walked for 2nd time tonight, budget software updated, four of seven moves made in Words With Friends. Time to shower and sleep.

We stood in line for an hour and have all three signatures on a book. I'm kicking myself for not bringing a Gaiman book with me to have signed. Everyone else did. There was the most adorable kid in front of us reading The Graveyard waiting patiently for it to be signed.

That was JZ's post, though of course I cosign!

Derp!

Easy travels to everyone. I don't even remotely envy that process.

smonster, if your (or D's) cell phone can do voice memo's, I'd highly suggest having it handy and recording conversation with the doc regarding post-op procedures. When they talk, it sounds real easy "just wash the wound and rebandage it" but then you forget the details, "how often? When do I take the medicine" or whatever. Just an idea.

ION - did not have the best of days. Really grumpy. Trying to get over it. Not sure why I can't. Blah.

IOON- Hoping Shir is doing ok. The evening news was saying it was the worst day yet over there. Continued ~ma for her and her friends/loved ones. And hoping the whole situation can end in peace soon. The way the news was describing Gaza, and dropping of leaflets, and telling folks to mass-evacuate an area, but where can they go? I dunno. It sounds horrible, but my mind kept thinking, it sounds like Warsaw in the 1940's. Not exactly the same, but what little that I know over there right now, the parallels are strong. Can't we all just get along. I really wish I know the history of the region better.

this is my favorite Ryan picture

[link]

sending the peace vibes

therre was more , but my brain is not here anymore

Clearly what happened at work today is pissing me off more than I would like. And what I can't tell is, am I over reacting? Or are my feelings justified? Or is the stress of hosting my first thanksgiving affecting my disposition? Or? or?? I dunno.

What's done is done. And the most frustrating part is, even if I am justified in my feelings, what can I do about it? We don't have the time to waste to undo what they did (sitzprobe is tomorrow). And what they did do is clean and looks good. The problem is, they made 2 small racks of gear that were hard to access, into one rack of gear that is easy to roll off and steal. So, 10 steps forward, 100 steps back. Plus, they made the qlab operator station much less ergonomic (it was poor before, now it's damn near hostile). Which means, I need to put another piece of equipment in the easy-to-steal rack (rack drawer keyboard/trackpad). Ugg. I hate it. And it's clearly keeping me awake.

A bus just exploded in Tel Aviv. I'm OK.

Thanks for checking in, Shir.

Shir, I'm glad you're ok.

Sort of x-posting with Literary, here is a link to the book that the book launch was for last night. The two stories the author read from it last night were very entertaining and moving.

The night started with Amanda Palmer reading the introduction she wrote for the book, then she sang one song with just her ukelele as an accompaniment. Then Martignetti introduced himself, read one story, followed by an intermission.

The intermission ended with Amanda Palmer and Neil Gaiman singing "Makin Whoopie", which brought on big cheers from the crowd. Then Neil Gaiman read a bit from this new book that comes out in June. It was a wonderful piece, and I cannot wait to read the book. This was followed by another story by Martignetti and one final song by Amanda Palmer that Martignetti requested.

After the reading all three signed whatever people had with them. I stupidly didn't have anything with me by Amanda Palmer or Neil Gaiman, but all three signed the copy of the Martignetti book for us.